Present fiber or plastic based (alternatively, fiber based, paper based etc.) packages intended for packaging goods or objects the use and storage of which need to be tracked, monitored or observed require human based or manual solutions to implement these things. Examples of such packages include e.g. medicine packages, food packages, various packages for goods and so on. The opening, use, storage, preservability, temperature, handling etc. of packages need to be monitored and observed so as to ensure the appropriate use and condition of the packaged goods. A problem with packages has been the reading, collecting or obtaining the information associated with the packages so that such information can be used and applied.
A known solution to the problem, brought about by Cypak, has been to use a special reader, or reader device. However, such a reader device has to be a highly specialized apparatus, suitable exclusively for a certain type of package suitable for the reader device. Therefore, there should exist at the reading site, such as a pharmacy or hospital, for example, a special reader device which is able to read the information on the package, say, instructions on a medicine package. It is a drawback that the reader device must be specially tailored and designed for the package in question. Another drawback of this known solution is that the package must include a transmitter (and possibly a receiver) implemented and designed in a fixed and integrated manner, capable of communicating information from the package to the reader device, which transmitter could be e.g. a special integrated transmitter or a rfid type transmitter reader loop or such. In addition, people, such as the personnel in a pharmacy or shop, need to learn to use the reader device.
In practice, a separate reader is a disadvantage for this known solution because, for example, the overall costs of the solution are very significant on the packaging scale, the reader device may get lost in which case a new one needs to be purchased, people need to learn to use the reader, the use of the reader is human based, i.e. manual, etc. All this requires expensive, complicated and/or difficult-to-use technology of both the package and the reader device proper.